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Category Archives: Foundation Powder

There are too many terminologies to remember for foundation and powders and many ladies, like myself, often get ourselves confused.

Let me clear the air once and for all.

Foundations are meant for coverage purposes and this includes BB Cream and Liquid foundations.

Compact/pressed powders are meant for light coverage or touch up purposes.

Another term which we might have come across would be a 2-way cake foundation. This can be used on damp face or applying with a damped sponge.

For me, I have been using compact powders ever since I’d started on make up, but there was once which I had tried using liquid foundation and thus, would like to share my experience with you.

If I recall correctly, my first and LAST liquid foundation was from Revlon Colorstay Liquid Foundation. It’s not that this product is lousy or anything, but I would like to indulge on the fact that I would prefer compact powders over liquid foundation any time, anywhere.

I had used Maybelline’s compact powder and have since switched over to Chanel’s compact powder after I was given a generous amount of sample kits by a friend who works at Chanel 🙂
For the comparison between these 2 brands, you may wish to read it here 🙂

Reasons why I prefer compact powders over liquid foundation :

1. As mentioned, although liquid foundation provides a better and greater coverage, as I do not require such heavy make up, light coverage powders work well for me. I do not have any serious blemishes or scars to cover up so compact powders are fine. But let’s say if I do have an annoying pimple that pops up over the night, I would use a concealer to gently pat over them and try to conceal them as much as possible, after which, I would gentle pat my compact powder over so that it does not seem all too obvious. I’m using the Loreal True Match Concealer 🙂

2. The main reason for choosing compact powders is because lesser hassles are involved. Although I’d prefer using my fingers over sponges so that I can have a better control of application, it is actually too messy. Your fingers get dirty and if you have long nails like mine, the liquid foundation gets stuck inside your nails and you would have a hard time digging and washing them off. Using a sponge is so much easier. But for concealers, I do dab on the targetted spot using the tip of the fingernails. I guess that would be difficult when applying liquid foundations.

3. I cringe at ladies who apply heavy make up. Remember, make ups are meant to enhance your features and as for foundations, they are not meant to look as if you had just whitewashed your face (wrong shade) or painted your face. One trick to find out if the shade if right for you, is to snap a picture with flash of your whole body. Compare the shades of your body and face. If you happen to see a paler shade on your face, then you’ve got it all wrong. I’ve seen many ladies with this problem and it’s just not flattering at all. Too much of anything is just wrong. Guys, as I know, do not like girls who apply such heavy make up and some of them (including ladies) have jokingly said that if girls with thick make up on gets slapped, their foundation would crack into pieces and just fall off to the ground. I know, it sounds kinda uncouth and insulting, but they do have a point there. Furthermore, do you wish to kiss a cheek filled with lots of foundation and make up? I don’t think so.

4. Setting the right base on your face before applying liquid foundation can be troublesome as well. Personally, I don’t use a primer but I do moisturise my face before applying the compact powder. I would leave the moisturiser on for about 5 mins before I apply the powder to preventing it from caking and layering, which is a very ugly sight I tell you. As primers/moisturisers are liquid base, applying another liquid over it can be tricky. You might have to wait longer for the primers/moisturisers to set before you can start applying the liquid foundation. Not a good idea if you are in a rush, especially when you are rushing for work in the morning. And once it cakes, it would be very difficult to set it right again and you would most probably have to remove it and apply everything all over again.

5. You need not touch up with another cosmetics if you are using compact powder. You can just touch it up on the go and that’s one thing less to carry in your make up pouch. If you are using liquid foundation, you would need to set it after it dries for a matte finishing. Extra step, extra costs, extra chemicals on your face, extra difficult to remove it thoroughly.

6. As you may have noticed, the Chanel powder comes with a brush, which I have not used before. I’ve not experiment using brush for foundation application though and still prefers using sponge. But for liquid foundation, you can’t use a brush although you may want to consider using a sponge but most ladies, use their fingers to apply.

7. Since liquid foundation is more difficult to remove, you may have to remove them twice in total. If it’s not removed thoroughly and properly, expect to see those unfriendly zits popping out the next few days. I do not believe when foundations/powders are claimed that they do not clog the pores, especially when you have open pores, it’s easier to enter and clog them. The only method is to ensure you do remove your make up and remove them thoroughly and then cleanse your face after that as well.

8. The only hassle which both liquid foundations and compact powders face together is the touching up, especially if you have combination skin like mine with oily T-zone. You can try getting those suitable for combination skin, but I’m sure more or less, there bound to be secretion of oil at the T-zone and constant touching up is a must. This is especially so when you are out of an air-conditioned room, or even when you are in it!

So ladies, I hope you find these information useful when deciding between liquid foundations and compact powders. If you do not require heavy coverage, I would encourage you to go for compact powder instead. Please do not use loose powder for coverage as they are meant to touch up and set the liquid foundations to a matter finishing.

Before Chanel, I was using Maybelline Clear Smooth Compact Powder as shown below. I’d tried to get the blue one over the green one where possible, because some places only sell the green one. The blue one has a higher SPF than the green one by 2 levels 🙂 So yeah, trying to be kiasu here 🙂

After that, I have been using that for months until I switched to Chanel and I am glad the product is value for money! 🙂
Note the huge price difference between the 2 brands though =P

I’m not the type who demands for counter-brand cosmetics/skin care products, as long as they are value for money and effective, I will go for them. For example, my blusher is from Silkygirl 🙂 But of course, marketing does play a part as well, as in the prestige as well as price factors, which might not always justify its quality. This is a common misconception 🙂

Like you, I make sure that the product is really highly raved by ladies and get as much info as possible through researching. Just like what you are doing now – reading reviews. But I do understand what may work for others may/may not work for me. So I’d always take opinions with a pinch of salt, which you should too, especially since each individual has different type of skincare problems as well as the type of skin. FYI, I have the combination type of skin (oily T-zone) – which is rather common in our climate conditions.

Here are the pictures of the pictures of the Maybelline compact powders just in case you’re wondering how they look like.

I have tried 2 different ranges of the Chanel compact powder (because my mom got the wrong one for me – but it turned out alright!). Before buying the compact powder, I was very fortunate to have a friend working in Chanel because she gave me some samples of Chanel products to try out and I’d really liked the powders 🙂

The 2 ranges of Chanel compact powder :

The white casing is Le Blanc Light Mastering Whitening Compact Foundation which has SPF 25/PA+++ while the black casing is the Vitalumiere Eclat Radiance Comfort Compact Makeup which has only SPF 10 only.

Personally, I’d prefer the whitening over the radiance one but that doesn’t mean that the latter is not good too. Both are awesome but just that I’m crazy over whitening products and hence the choice 🙂

As I have combination skin (oily T-zone), this powder although doesn’t really help much in combating the oiliness, I still like how each application is so smooth. I don’t use the brush that comes along because I prefer using sponges. I think it’s easier to control. Speaking of which, I’m not a fan of liquid foundation as well. The one and only I have tried in my entire lifetime is the Revlon liquid foundation which I decided not to venture into them anymore because of the mess and hassle they create. It gets stuck inside your nails although I agree that using your fingers allow greater control and easier application than sponges/brushes, that’s for sure. Liquid foundation looks extremely thick on my face as well.

Honestly, I don’t require one that provides excessive or thick coverage because I have naturally good skin. I don’t have acne problems and the only time I have pimples is when it’s nearing “that time of the month” but recently these few months, I realised that I don’t even have this problem now! The worst pimples problem was during my O Levels which is like eons ago (I am reminded how much I’ve aged ):) Other than that, I don’t recall any other unfortunate incidents.

The only problem I have with my faceskin is the oily T-zone (which is not that terrible and excessive) and the enlarged pores I have. Of course, and the disgusting dark circles as well! And well, I do have quite a number of moles of my face but thank god they aren’t those huge and/or hairy ones! 🙂

One more thing, Chanel compact powder has quite a pleasant scent too. Unlike the Maybelline one.

Besides not being able to solve my T-zone problem, another dissatisfaction is that the powder “runs loose” and gets all over the mirror, causing it to be dirty and blur. Time to time, I have to wipe off the remnants of the powder bits off the mirror to be able to view clearly. Quite a hassle actually.

And of course, once dropped, the compact powder would crack, just like the rest of the powders as well. I say this because I’ve dropped mine before by accident 😦

Since my other cosmetics family isn’t that expensive (I use Bourjois/K-Palette liquid eyeliner, Silkygirl duo blusher, some eyebrow pencil that my sis gave me – unsure of the brand, Canmake highlighter, Loreal concealer and Maybelline masacara), I think it is only reasonable that my compact powder which covers the largest portion of my face, can be abit more pricey? 🙂
If I’m not wrong, it is sold at $90+? My mom got it at around S$70+ from HK 🙂

**One thing which I would like to highlight that is, please babes, do get a colour of your own skin tone. I have seen so many ladies using the WRONG tone for their face and they look really awful! It should match the rest of your body and shouldn’t be whiter than them. I understand it would be icky to try the tester out especially if you have sensitive skin, but if so, you should get your products that are specially made for sensitive skin. For me, I seriously do not wish to look ridiculous mismatched with the rest of my skin, so I would take the chance and test a small portion on my face. You may want to try this out. Would be great if you have wet wipes with you at the point of time as well. 🙂

I think those whose faces are packed with layers and layers of powders is seriously a big booboo! Don’t suffocate your skin so much alright? Plus, cleaning them off thoroughly would be a hassle. You don’t have to apply layers to cover up problematic areas, just get a good concealer to do the trick!

The trick is to get the RIGHT coverage for YOUR SKIN TONE, NOT THE FAIREST OR WHITEST, unless your ambition is to be a Geisha? 😉